Chess
Chess is a board game for two players, played on a square board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid.
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Chess is a board game for two players, played on a square board consisting of 64 squares arranged in an 8×8 grid. The players, referred to as "White" and "Black", each control sixteen pieces: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns, with each piece type having a different pattern of movement. An enemy piece may be captured (removed from the board) by moving one's own piece onto the square it occupies. The objective of the game is to checkmate (threaten with inescapable capture) the enemy king. There are also several ways a game can end in a draw.
The recorded history of chess dates back to the emergence of chaturanga in 7th-century India. Chaturanga is also thought to be an ancestor of similar games like janggi, xiangqi, and shogi. After its introduction to Persia, it spread to the Arab world and then to Europe. The modern rules of chess emerged in Europe at the end of the 15th century, becoming standardized and gaining universal acceptance by the end of the 19th century. Today, chess is one of the world's most popular games, with millions of players worldwide.
Organized chess arose in the 19th century. International chess competitions today are governed by FIDE (French: Fédération Internationale des Échecs, 'International Chess Federation'). The first universally recognized World Chess Champion, Wilhelm Steinitz, claimed his title in 1886; Gukesh Dommaraju is the current World Champion, having won the title in 2024.
Rules
The rules of chess are published by FIDE (French: Fédération Internationale des Échecs, 'International Chess Federation'), world governing body of chess, in its Handbook. Rules published by national governing bodies, or by unaffiliated chess organizations, commercial publishers, etc., may differ in some details. For example, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) diverged from FIDE in the 1980s over differences in time-keeping rules.
Chess sets come in a wide variety of styles. The Staunton pattern is the most common, and is usually required for competition. Chess sets come with pieces in two colors, referred to as white and black, regardless of their actual color; the players controlling the color sets are referred to as White and Black, respectively. Each set comes with at least the following 16 pieces in both colors: one king, one queen, two rooks, two bishops, two knights, and eight pawns.
The game is played on a square board of eight rows (called ranks) and eight columns (called files). Although it does not affect gameplay, by convention the 64 squares alternate in color and are referred to as light and dark squares.
Notation
Historically, many different notation systems have been used to record chess moves; the standard system today is short-form algebraic notation. In this system, files are labeled a through h and ranks are labeled 1 through 8. Squares are identified by the file and rank they occur on; "g3" is the square on the g-file and the third rank. In English, the piece notations are: K (king), Q (queen), R (rook), B (bishop), and N (knight; N is used to avoid confusion with king). Different initials are used in other languages.
For example, Qg5 means "queen moves to g5". Pawns have no letter initials; e4 simply means "pawn moves to e4". When multiple moves could be rendered the same way, the file or rank from which the piece moved is added to resolve ambiguity (e.g. Ngf3 means "knight from the g-file moves to the square f3"; R1e2 means "rook on the first rank moves to e2"). If a move may be disambiguated by rank or file, it is done by file, and in the rare case that both are needed, squares are listed normally (e.g.
If the move is a capture, "x" is usually inserted before the destination square, thus Bxf3 means "bishop captures on f3". When a pawn makes a capture, the file from which the pawn departed is often listed even when no disambiguation is necessary; for example, exd5 ("pawn on the e-file captures on d5").
Gameplay
Chess theory divides chess games into three phases with different sets of strategies: the opening, the middlegame, and lastly the endgame. There is no universally accepted way to delineate the three phases of the game; the middlegame is typically considered to have begun after 10–20 moves, and the endgame when only a few pieces remain.
Competitive players typically learn, memorize, and play well-documented sequences of opening moves. The most common starting moves for White are 1.e4 and 1.d4, which usually lead to substantially different types of positions, and Black has multiple viable responses to both.
Sequences of opening moves are referred to as openings and are catalogued in reference works, such as the Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings. There are thousands of openings, though only a small fraction of them are commonly played; variations of openings may also be given names. Openings vary widely in character from quiet positional play (for example, the Colle System) to sharp aggressive play (like the Latvian Gambit). In some opening lines, the exact sequence considered best for both sides has been worked out to more than 30 moves.
Problems and studies
Chess problems (also called chess compositions) are composed positions, usually created for artistic effect rather than practical application. This is a specialized field with its own distinctive terminology and culture. The creator is known as a chess composer. There are many types of chess problems, the most common being directmates, in which White is required to move and checkmate Black within a specified number of moves, usually two or three, against any defense.
These are commonly referred to as "two-movers", "three-movers", or "more-movers". "Many-movers" (also known as "long-range problems") of over 100 moves have been composed, the current record standing at over 200; these usually require repetitions of the same maneuver in order to produce a repeated zugzwang and force detrimental pawn advances.
Directmate positions are usually highly unlikely to occur in an actual game, and are intended to illustrate a particular theme, usually requiring a surprising or counterintuitive key move. Themes associated with chess problems occasionally appear in actual games, when they are referred to as "problem-like" moves. An example of a two-mover is shown in the diagram.
Chess in public spaces
Chess is often played in public spaces such as parks and town squares. Although the nature of these games is often casual, the chess hustling scene has seen growth in urban areas such as New York City.